A Look Into the Life of Percy Jackson: The Lightning Thief
by FantasyBeast14
Summary: This is going to be another one of those demigods and gods read the books stories, although I do hope to put my own little twist into it. Rated M for foul language and abuse.
1. Prologue

The Olympian council was as chaotic as ever. The members of the immortal family were all fighting and screaming over each other about the most trivial things. The only calm one was Lady Hestia, who somehow managed to smile despite her family's childish behavior. The goddess was shaking her head fondly when a flash of bright light encased the room, silencing the other Olympians. Suddenly there were 8 demigods falling from the sky. Hermes and Apollo stifled their laughter as the demigods crashed into the marble floor. The other gods/goddesses were still in too much shock to react at all. The children stood up, groaning in pain.

"What the hell did you do now Percy?" yelled one of the girls yelled at a black haired boy in frustration. Said boy looked at her in bewilderment. "What makes you think I had anything to do with it Pinecone Face?" he yelled back. A blonde haired girl looked at him pointedly and asked, "Do you really want her to answer that?" The boy just blushed and looked down.

The blonde turned to face Zeus and kneeled before him. "Lord Zeus, why have you summoned us?" Her question snapped the king out of his stupor. "I did not summon you child. I do not even know who any of you are." The demigods looked at each other in confusion at his response. Before anyone of them could respond, a box appeared before them with a note attached. Athena reached down and picked up the note and read it out loud:

_**"We have sent these demigods from the future to give you a heads up on what will happen. Although the Fates have warned us that you cannot change ANYTHING. You may simply prepare. Please read the books and try not to destroy anyone.**_

_**- The best gods ever, Apollo and Hermes."**_

**__**"Well that explains that," said a boy dressed in black.

"I suppose if we are to be stuck with the brats for the time being they may as well introduce themselves," Dionysus said in an irritated voice.

Zeus nodded and motioned for the demigods to do so.

The blonde girl stepped up first. "Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena and architect of Olympus." Annabeth smiled at her mother before stepping back allowing a punk-rockish looking girl to take the stand.

"Thalia Grace, daughter of Zeus and Lieutenant of Artemis," Thalia announced before nodding at her father and bowing towards Artemis. Hades looked furious that his brother had broken the oath and glared at his brother, wordlessly expressing his anger. Thalia stepped down and pushed forward the boy dressed in black. "No need for violence," he muttered in her direction while she just smiled sweetly at him. "Nico DiAngelo, son of Hades. Oh and I was kind of born in the 1900s so Hades didn't break the oath, just thought I should put that out there," Nico said smiling sheepishly before stepping down.

Hades was shocked. Nico and his sister were supposed to be safe in the Lotus Casino. If Nico was here, then where was Bianca?

Next up was the black haired boy from before. He carried himself in a care-free way and his face held a kind of childish demeanor but his eyes did not match the rest of him. The green orbs held so much pain, it was saddening to look at them. He smiled goofily and waved at them. "Hi there. I'm Percy Jackson, son of Poseidon and the apparent Hero of Olympus," he stated, ignoring the looks his friends were giving him. "Apparent my ass," Nico muttered.

Poseidon looked at Percy with wonder. The Percy of his time was still just a toddler. Looking at the man before him was kind of mind blowing to say the least. He smiled at his son and rolled his eyes at the looks his brothers were giving him. They'd deal with the whole oath business later.

Next up was a Native American girl who was clearly trying to downsize her beauty with a choppy hair cut and plain clothes. "Piper McLean, daughter of Aphrodite," she stated simply before stepping down, allowing a short Hispanic boy with wild curly brown hair to step up excitedly.

"Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus, pyromancer, total ladies ma-ACK," Piper yanked Leo down by the ear and called him an idiot. "That wasn't very nice," he told her. She ignored him completely. Apollo and Hermes snickered while Athena rolled her eyes at their antics. When the blonde(?) boy stepped up the rooms atmosphere changed suddenly. The boy glanced around nervously before introducing himself, "Jason Grace, son of Jupiter, Praetor of the Twelfth Legion." At the mention of his Roman the decent the gods also grew nervous. What could be so bad in the future that Greeks and Romans actually came together?

There were only two demigods left. The girl stepped up first. She looked young but had a older aura about her. "Hazel Levesque, daughter of Pluto," she stated before stepping down and ushering the last of them forward. He looked around nervously. "F-Frank Zhang, son of Mars," The asian boy stuttered out.

"Well now that that's been taken care of," Dionysus began in a bored tone, "can we please get these reading over with? I don't want to spend more time with these brats than necessary." Athena sighed and volunteered to read first before picking up the first book.

"What's it called?" Zeus asked.

Athena glanced a Percy before answering, "Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief."

Zeus's roar of rage was heard at the same time as Percy's muttering of, "Oh great."


	2. Chapter 1

Zeus was livid and accusing Poseidon of stealing his bolt while Percy kept muttering how this was going to be terrible, his friends silently laughed at him. Jason, Piper and Leo were wondering what to expect. During their entire stay at Camp Half-Blood they heard stories about the infamous Percy Jackson. During their time together searching for Rome, Piper felt that Percy was a sweet guy who, while slow at times, was extremely loyal to his friends.

Leo Thought the guy was super cool. Even cooler than Jason, who while is nice guy, is a little stuck up and all business. Percy was the total opposite. He knew how to have fun and never made him feel like a freak because of his fire powers. Leo looked up to him.

Jason, however, wasn't too sure about him. During the time they've spent on the Argo II, Jason has yet to see what the big deal is. Sure the kid is pretty good in the water but other than that, Jason doesn't see anything special.

"ENOUGH!" yelled Artemis. The room went silent as everyone turned to her. The goddess was rubbing her temples in frustration as she addressed them. "Enough with the petty fighting already. Let's just read the damn book so that we can find out what happened." Zeus remained stoic but motioned to Athena to read.

**I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher**

Percy looked down sheepishly as the other demigods stared at him in bewilderment. Apollo and Hermes tried not to laugh as Annabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Percy," she began, "how the Hades did you manage something like that?" Percy just shrugged, realizing that she never heard the full story. She sighed. Athena continued to read.

**Look, I didn't want to be a half-blood.**

**If you're reading this because you think you might be one, my advice is: close this book right now. Believe whatever lie your mom or dad told you about your birth, and try to lead a normal life. **

"Nice try Seaweed Brain," Annabeth said looking at the boy in question, "but I think that advice would only make them question their birth even more." Percy just shrugged and looked at her with a 'well-I-tried' face and waved at Athena to continue. The goddess narrowed her eyes at how close her daughter seemed to be with the sea spawn but continued to read nonetheless.

**Being a half-blood is dangerous . It's scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.**

The gods flinched at that statement as their children bowed their heads in respect for their fallen friends.

**If you're a normal kid, reading this because you think it's fiction, great. Read on. I envy you for being able to believe that none of this ever happened.**

**But if you recognize yourself in these pages-if you feel something stirring inside-stop reading immediately. You might be one of us. And once you know that, it's only a matter of time before ****_they_**** sense it too, and they'll come for you.**

**Don't say I didn't warn you.**

Leo and Nico opened their mouths to say that Percy _didn't _warn them when Thalia and Piper glared at them, effectively shutting them up.

**My name is Percy Jackson.**

**I'm twelve years old. Until a few months ago, I was a boarding student at Yancy Academy, a private school for troubled kids in upstate New York.**

**Am I a troubled kid?**

"Troubled, is the understatement of the year," Thalia said with a mischievous grin. Nico snickered while Annabeth just rolled her eyes. Percy smiled and said, "I suppose, but it's not like any of you are any better." Poseidon gulped in fear for his son. He could only hope that the Fates weren't too cruel to his boy.

**Yeah. You could say that.**

**I could start at any point in my short miserable life to prove it, but things really started going bad last May, when our sixth-grade class took a field trip to Manhattan-twenty-eight mental-case kids and two teachers on a yellow school bus, heading to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to look at ancient Greek and Roman stuff.**

Poseidon paled lightly at the words 'short miserable life' and had to remind himself that his son was there alive, and obviously a lot older than 12 years old. Jason, Hazel and Frank smiled a little at the mention of Roman artifacts while Athena and Annabeth frowned at the thought of so many unpredictable children around precious artifacts.

**I know-it sounds like torture. Most Yancy field trips were.**

Athena and Annabeth glared at Percy who tried hiding behind Thalia. She looked at him and pushed him away, sending a volt of electricity through his body. Percy yelped as he flew back a couple feet, scowling as the other people in the room began laughing at him.

"Gee, what great friends I have..."

**But Mr. Brunner, our Latin teacher, was leading this trip so I had hopes.**

**Mr. Brunner was this middle-aged guy in a motorized wheelchair. He had thinning hair and a scruffy beard and a frayed tweed jacket, which always smelled like coffee. You wouldn't think he was cool, but he told stories and jokes and let us play games in class. he also had this also collection of Roman armor and weapons, so he was the only teacher whose class didn't put me to sleep.**

Dionysus raised an eyebrow at Chiron's mention but disregarded it. The goddess of wisdom however, looked scandalized at the mere idea of someone falling asleep in class. Annabeth looked at him in disappointment.

"Oh, don't give me that look," he told her. "You know perfectly well that I'm not the only demigod who doesn't do well in school. Unless you're a child of Athena, which I am so obviously not, it's practically impossible to pay attention in class. And quite frankly, I'd rather sleep than deal with a dyslexia-induced migraine."

Leo held his hands in front of himself. "Preach!"

Piper then proceeded to slap him.

**I hoped this trip would be okay. At least, I hopes that for once I wouldn't get in trouble.**

Everyone who knew Percy snorted at that as Percy glared at them playfully. "Come on guys, I'm not that bad," he said. "Percy," Annabeth said, "trouble follows you EVERYWHERE. You are a trouble magnet." Thalia and Nico nodded their head in agreement and Poseidon paled once more. Jason frowned at this. If this was true, then prophecy or not, he wasn't sure if he wanted this kid on the quest. He narrowed his eyes in Percy's direction until he noticed Hazel and Frank glaring at him. Sighing he looked away from the other boy and placed his arm around Piper's shoulders. Said girl looked up and smiled at her boyfriend.

**Boy, was I wrong.**

**See, bad things happen to me on field trips. Like at my fifth-grade school. when we went to the Saratoga battlefield, I had this accident with a Revolutionary War cannon. I wasn't aiming at the school bus, but of course I got expelled anyway.**

At this every man in the room was laughing. "Not bad kid," Ares chuckled.

"What were you aiming at?" Leo asked out of curiosity. Percy grinned at him, mischief glinting in his eyes. "The tour guide."

**And before that, at my forth-grade school, when we took a behind-the-scenes tour of the Marine World shark pool, I sort of hit the wrongs lever on the catwalk and our class took an unplanned swim. And the time before that...Well, you get the idea.**

"NO!" Apollo and Hermes yelled. "We want to here more!"

"Well," Percy began pensively. That life seemed like a million years ago, it was kind of hard to remember. "there was this one time, we went on a trip to the beach to help pick up trash on the shore when this one kid was being an asshole. I was thinking about how great it'd be if he was just pulled out into the sea and this huge wave came in and he was swept away. I was expelled after some girl claimed that I pushed him."

The entire room erupted in laughter.

"Uncle P, your kid is AWESOME!" Hermes said in between laughter while Apollo nodded, tears coming out of his eyes.

"FISHY POWERS ACTIVATE!" Leo an Nico screamed, rolling on the floor, causing Percy to blush and look at them weirdly.

**This trip, I was determined to be good.**

**All the way into the city, I put up with Nancy Bobofit, the freckly, redheaded kleptomaniac girl, hitting my best friend Grover in the back of the head with chunks of peanut butter-and-ketchup sandwich.**

"Well that's disgusting," Piper stated, looking a little green, along with the rest of the girls and some of the guys.

**Grover was an easy target. He was scrawny. He cried when he got frustrated. He must've been held back several grades, because he was the only sixth-grader with acne and the start of a wispy beard on his chin.**

Thalia snorted. "I don't think he'd appreciate that description Perce." Percy smiled sheepishly.

**On top of all that, he was crippled. He had a note excusing him from PE for the rest of his life because he had some kind of muscular disease in his legs. He walked funny, like every step hurt him, but don't let that fool you. You should've seen him run when it was enchilada day in the cafeteria.**

Dionysus rolled his eyes and muttered something about useless Satyrs, although he did smile fondly.

Annabeth just shook her head. "He really shouldn't blow his cover like that."

Hazel and Frank looked confused though. What was a Faun doing at school?

**Anyway, Nancy Bobofit was throwing wads of sandwich that stuck in his curly brown hair, and she knew I couldn't do anything back to her because I was already on probation. The headmaster had threatened me with death by in-school suspension if anything bad, embarrassing, or even mildly entertaining happened on this trip.**

**"I'm going to kill her," I mumbled.**

"Do it," Ares encouraged. "This book needs some action."

"Trust me, there will be plenty of action in these books," Percy said dryly.

**Grover tried to calm me down. "It's okay. I like peanut butter."**

**He dodged another piece of Nancy's lunch.**

**"That's it." I started to get up, but Grover pulled me back to my seat.**

Ares looked disappointed.

**"You're already on probation," he reminded me. "You know who'll get blamed if anything happens." **

**Looking back on it, I wish I'd decked Nancy Bobofit right then and there. In-school suspension would've been nothing compared to the mess I was about to get myself into.**

"But if you did that, then you never would have met us!" Nico declared, pouting a little.

Percy smiled and ruffled his hair. "Don't worry Nico, I'm glad I didn't do anything." Nico frowned and put his hair back into place before smiling like a little kid again.

**Mr. Brunner led the museum tour.**

**He rode up front in his wheelchair, guiding us through the big echoey galleries, past marble statues and glass cases full of really old black-and-orange pottery.**

**It blew my mind that this stuff had survived for two thousand, three thousand years.**

Athena shook her head. "A lot longer than that child."

Percy was he one pouting now. "I know that now..."

**He gathered us around a thirteen-foot-tall stone column with a big sphinx on the top, and started telling us how it was a grave marker, a stele, for a girl about our age. He told us about the carvings on the sides. I was trying to listen to what he had to say, because it was kind of interesting, but everybody around me was talking, and every time I told them to shut up, the other teacher chaperone, Mrs. Dodds, would give me the evil eye. **

**Mrs. Dodds was this little math teacher from Georgia who always wore a black leather jacket, even though she was fifty years old. She looked mean enough to ride a Harley right into your locker. She had come to Yancy halfway through the year, when our last math teacher had a nervous breakdown.**

**From her first day, Mrs. Dodds loved Nancy Bobofit and figured I was devil spawn. She would point her crooked finger at me and say, "Now, honey," real sweet, and I knew I was going to get after-school detention for a month.**

Nico gasped in realization and glanced at Percy for confirmation. Percy pursed his lips and nodded, Nico groaned.

**One time, after she'd made me erase answers out of old math workbooks until midnight, I told Grover I didn't think Mrs. Dodds was human. He looked at me, real serious, and said, "You're absolutely right."**

Dionysus and Annabeth both shook their heads in silent reprimanding of everyone's favorite Satyr.

**Mr. Brunner kept talking about Greek funeral art.**

**Finally, Nancy Bobofit snickered something about the naked guy on the stele, and I turned around and said, "Will you shut up?"**

**It came out louder than I meant it to.**

The demigods and some gods (Apollo and Hermes) snickered.

**The whole group laughed. Mr. Brunner stopped his story.**

**"Mr. Jackson," he said, "did you have a comment?"**

**My face was totally red. I said, "No sir."**

**Mr. Brunner pointed to one of the pictures on the stele.**

**"Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"**

**I looked at the carving, and felt a flush of relief, because I actually recognized it. "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"**

The gods groaned.

"Of course it has to be that one," groaned Hera.

**"Yes," Mr. Brunner said, obviously not satisfied. "And he did this because..."**

**"Well..." I racked my brain to remember. "Kronos was the king god, and-"**

Zeus turned red. "GOD?!" he roared, "Did this insolent child just suggest that despicable being is a god?!"

"It was a mistake!" Percy yelled from his hiding place behind Thalia. The girl just scowled and moved away from him, leaving Percy without his human shield.

Jason frowned once more. If this guy couldn't tell the difference between a god and a Titan then he really couldn't see why so many campers looked up to him. As far as he could tell, Percy was an idiot.

**"God?" Mr. Brunner asked.**

**"Titan," I corrected myself. "And...he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sisters-"**

**"Eeew!" said one of the girls behind me.**

"Try experiencing it," Demeter shuddered. Her siblings looked a little green as they nodded in agreement.

**"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans," I continued, "and the gods won."**

Annabeth shook her head. "Only Percy can summarize the biggest war in the history of the world into three measly sentences."

Percy just grinned goofily. "It's a gift," he said.

**Some snickers from the group.**

**Behind me, Nancy Bobofit mumbled to a friend, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.' "**

**"And why, Mr. Jackson," Brunner said, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's excellent question, does this matter in real life?"**

"Because you're actually a demigod and this information can potentially save your life and possibly the entire world in the near or distant future," Nico said. The other demigods who knew of Percy's adventures nodded gravely while the others laughed, thinking that Nico was joking. No way could one kid save or destroy the world, right?

**"Busted," Grover muttered. **

**"Shut up," Nancy hissed, her face even brighter red than her hair.**

**At least Nancy got packed, too. Mr. Brunner was the only one who ever caught her saying anything wrong. He had radar ears. **

"More like horse ears," Hermes snickered.

"Actually," Percy corrected, "he has human ears. Although I suppose he may have a horse's senses..." His friends stared at him in shock. "What?" he asked, feeling self conscious.

"You actually said something _smart_," Thalia said, still staring.

Percy pouted. "I can be smart when I want to be."

"So you _choose_ to be an idiot?" she asked innocently.

Percy scowled and doused her with water. Thalia glared at him and prepared to electrocute her laughing cousin when Athena began to read once more. Nico sent the goddess a grateful look, remembering the last time his two cousins had a show down.

******I thought about his question, and shrugged. "I don't know sir."  
"I see." Mr. Brunner looked disappointed. "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tartarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds, would you lead us back outside?"  
**

******The class drifted off, the girls holding their stomachs, the guys pushing each other around and acting like doofuses. **

"Boys are always doofuses," Artemis stated with distaste.

Percy opened his mouth to protest but then closed it again, in fear of being turned into a Jackalope. He had no desire to be a small, furry animal again.

**Grover and I were about to follow when Mr. Brunner said, "Mr. Jackson."**

**I knew what was coming.**

"Did you Percy? Did you _really?"_ Apollo asked mysteriously.

Percy looked at him weirdly while Artemis rolled her eyes and smacked him across the head. He cried out in pain and looked at his twin with wide eyes, backing away slowly.

"Idiot," she muttered.

Thalia tried to hide her snickers to no avail. Apollo glared at her before turning it into a pout.

**I told Grover to keep going. Then I turned toward Mr. Brunner. "Sir?"**

**Mr. Brunner had this look that wouldn't let you go- intense brown eyes that could've been a thousand years old and had seen everything.**

**"You must learn the answer to my question," Mr. Brunner told me.**

**"About the Titans?"**

"Well that too, I suppose," Annabeth said thoughtfully. "If you didn't know about the Titans then we'd be pretty screwed."

The other demigods, with the exception of the Romans as well as Piper and Leo, nodded gravely.

Percy shrugged casually. "Considering that I didn't know who half the Titans I fought were until they were right in front of me, I doubt it would have made much of a difference."

Jason's eyes went wide. Did he say _Titans?_ As in plural? More than one? He fought the urge to be impressed, but even he had to admit, this kid must have some serious skill if he was still alive.

Leo, however, had know problem showing his awe of the boy. "Dude! That is so cool! Who'd you fight? How'd you beat them? Did you get hurt? Did anyone die?"

Percy smiled slightly and turned to Nico. "He's acting as bad as you when you first found out you were a demigod."

Nico blushed and tried to scowl at his cousin, but all he succeeded in doing was make him laugh. Even Thalia had a small smile on her face. Hazel glanced at her brother curiously. She wondered what Percy had meant. The Nico she knew was always so gloomy. She couldn't possibly picture him as hyperactive as Leo was acting.

Meanwhile, Poseidon was rubbing his temples in exasperation. If what these children were saying was true, then he was sure to have a heart attack by the end of these books. And gods don't even have heart attacks!

**"About real life. And how your studies apply to it."**

**"Oh."**

**"What you learn from me," he said, "is vitally important. I expect you to treat it as such. I will only expect the best from you, Percy Jackson." **

**I wanted to get angry, this guy pushed me so hard. I mean, sure, it was kind of cool on tournament days, when he dressed up in a suit of Roman armor and shouted: "What ho!" and challenged us, sword-point against chalk, to run to the board and name every Greek and ROman person who had ever lived, and their mother, and what god they worshipped.**

"Oh please Seaweed Brain," Annabeth began, rolling her eyes, "don't exaggerate."

"What makes you think I was exaggerating? That was an actual assignment once."

The demigods looked at him with wide eyes.

"Is Chiron insane?" Piper asked.

"That's-that's not even possible!" Annabeth stuttered out.

Percy shrugged once more. "I never said I managed to do it."

"The day Percy Jackson is actually capable of doing something that requires intelligence that not even a child of _Athena_ could do would be the first sign that the world is ending," Nico scoffed.

**But Mr. Brunner expected me to be as good as everyone else, despite the fact that i have dyslexia and attention deficit disorder and I had never made above a C- in my life. No-he didn't expect me to be as _good_; he expected me to be _better._**

Annabeth looked up at her boyfriend proudly. "And you are the best of them all." Percy blushed and looked down.

Jason scowled. And his mood was only made worse when he saw Frank and Hazel, his _fellow Romans_ nodding their heads along with the CHB crew.

**And I just couldn't learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.**

"I don't think any of us can, and I'm not even dyslexic!" Frank commented.

**I mumbled something about trying harder, while Mr. Brunner took one long sad look at the stele, like he'd been at this girl's funeral.**

"He probably was," Hestia stated thoughtfully. "Do you remember who she was?"

Percy shook his head. "Sorry my Lady, that was years ago."

Hazel giggled. "As if that were the reason. Percy, you couldn't even remember what you had for breakfast yesterday."

Percy blushed as his so-called friends laughed at him.

**He told me to go outside and eat my lunch.**

**The class gathered on the front steps of the museum, where we could watch the foot traffic along Fifth Avenue.**

**Overhead, a huge storm was brewing, with clouds blacker than I'd ever seen over the city. I figured maybe it was global warming or something, because the weather all across New York state had been weird since Christmas. We'd had massive snow storms, flooding, wildfires from lightning strikes. I wouldn't have been surprised if this was a hurricane blowing in. **

Hera glared at the brothers who made a point to look anywhere but at each other, and now her.

"Honestly you two! I realize that the situation is upsetting, but no need to take it out on the mortals. No matter how despicable they are!"

Annabeth sighed in relief.

Thalia shot her a questioning look and she explained, "I don't think I would've been capable of handling the shock if Hera had actually showed concern about the mortals."

Thalia nodded in understanding and Percy shook his head fondly at his girlfriend's antics.

**Nobody else seemed to notice. Some of the guys were pelting pigeons with Lunchables crackers. Nancy Bobofit was trying to pickpocket something from a lady's purse, and, of course, Mrs. Dodds wasn't seeing a thing.**

Hermes immediately shouted, "NOT MINE!"

The other gods snickered and Percy laughed. "I'm sure the Stolls would be relieved. Nancy really was a nasty piece of work."

**Grover and I sat on the edge of the fountain, away from the others. We thought that maybe if we did that, everybody wouldn't know we were from _that_ school- the school for loser freaks who couldn't make it elsewhere.**

Thalia grinned mischievously. "Oh Percy, haven't you figured it out yet? You _are_ a loser freak."

Instead of offering her a response, Percy merely glared. He's been called a freak all his life and he hated it, especially since he figured it was true. Even in demigod terms, he was pretty unusual. Even though he was used to it, he still never liked it. Hearing his cousin call him that, even jokingly, brought up bad memories of...

Percy shuddered in part anger, part fear. Annabeth noticed and put her hand on his arm, offering silent comfort. Percy smiled at her in thanks.

**"Detention?" Grover asked.**

**"Nah," I said. "Not from Brunner. I just wish he'd lay off me sometimes. I mean-I'm not a genius."**

Thalia snorted. "Now _that_ is the understatement of the century."

The Camp Half-Blood crew began to laugh. Hazel frowned slightly. Maybe it was because she was from the 40s, but she was pretty sure that friends insulting friends wasn't normal. When she noticed Percy laughing good-naturedly she decided that maybe it was normal for them, at that was good enough for her.

**Grover didn't say anything for a while. Then, when I thought he was going to give some deep philosophical comment to make me feel better, he said, "Can I have your apple?"**

This time everyone was laughing. Even Dionysus cracked a small smile. His Satyrs were such silly creatures.

**I didn't have much of an appetite so I let him take it.**

**I watched the stream of cabs going down Fifth Avenue, and thought about my mom's apartment, only a little ways uptown from where we sat. I hadn't seen her since Christmas. I wanted so bad to jump in a taxi and head home. She'd hug me and be glad to see me, but she'd be disappointed, too. She'd send me right back to Yancy, remind me that I had to try harder, even if this was my sixth school in six years and I was probably going to be kicked out again. I wouldn't be able to stand the sad look she'd give me.**

Ares rolled his eyes. Hera was about to scold him but Percy beat her to it.

"There's nothing wrong with loving your mother Ares," he said. "Just because you hate yours doesn't mean that we all have to despise ours."

Hera nodded in approval. Even Artemis allowed a small smile to grace her face. This boy was something else, that was for sure.

**Mr. Brunner parked his wheelchair at the base of the handicapped ramp. He ate celery while he read a paperback novel. A read umbrella stuck up from the back of his chair, making it look like a motorized cafe table. **

Nico laughed. "Amazing how you notice all the little details that surround you, yet it took you five years to pick up on-OW!" He was cut off when Annabeth smacked him upside the head, her cheeks glowing a new shade of read. Aphrodite squealed in delight. She just knew she was going to have loads of fun with their love life.

**I was about to unwrap my sandwich when Nancy Bobofit appeared in front of me with her ugly friends-I guess she'd gotten tired of stealing from the tourists-and dumped her half-eaten lunch in Grover's lap.**

**"Oops." She grinned at me with her crooked teeth. Her freckles were orange, as if someone had spray-painted her face with liquid Cheetos.**

Piper glanced at Percy. "Well that was an...interesting description."

**I tried to stay cool. The school counselor had told me a million times, "Count to ten, get control of your temper."**

"That never works," Leo grumbled.

Both Jason and Percy looked at him curiously. Leo sighed and lit his hand on fire, not noticing how Frank paled and backed away from him.

"I've never had the best control over my abilities. Whenever my emotions got out of whack, something around me would burst into flames."

Percy nodded understandingly, he's also had some issues controlling his powers, some that not even his closest friends knew about yet. Jason on the other hand was now wary of his friend. Having such a loose canon on the mission could cause some serious issues. He'd have to keep a closer watch on Leo from now on.

**But I was so mad my mind went blank. A wave roared in my ears.**

Everyone who has ever seen Percy control the water leaned forward in anticipation.

**I don't remember touching her, but the next thing I knew, Nancy was sitting on her butt in the fountain, screaming, "Percy pushed me!"**

**Mrs. Dodds materialized next to us.**

**Some of the kids were whispering: "Did you see-"**

**"-the water-"**

**"-like it grabbed her-"**

Poseidon smirked. His kids always got the coolest powers.

Frank also grinned. He was remembering the day Percy arrived at Camp Jupiter, how he had saved Frank's life by using the water from the Little Tiber to smash the Gorgons into dust. Percy is by far the most powerful demigod Frank has ever seen, and Frank was proud to be able to call him his friend.

**I didn't know what they were talking about. All I knew was that I was in trouble again.**

**As soon as Mrs. Dodds was sure poor little Nancy was okay, promising to get her a new shirt at the museum gift shop, etc., etc., Mrs. Dodds turned on me. There was a triumphant fire in her eyes, as if I'd done something she'd been waiting for all semester. "Now, honey-"**

**"I know," I grumbled. "A month erasing workbooks."**

Hermes shook his head in clear disappointment. "And here I thought you had potential kid. You NEVER try to guess the punishment."

**That wasn't the right thing to say.**

**"Come with me," Mrs. Dodds said.**

**"Wait!" Grover yelped. "It was me. _I_ pushed her."**

**I stared at him, stunned. I couldn't believe he was trying to cover for me. Mrs. Dodds scared Grover to death.**

"He _should_ be afraid of her," Nico muttered darkly.

Poseidon tensed at those words. What was his son up against?

**She glared at him so hard his whiskery chin trembled.**

**"I don't think so, Mr. Underwood," she said.**

**"But-"**

**"You-_will_-stay-here."**

**Grover looked at me desperately.**

**"It's okay, man," I told him. "Thanks for trying."**

**"Honey," Mrs. Dodds barked at me. _"Now."_**

**Nancy Bobofit smirked.**

"Bitch," Thalia muttered under her breath, as to avoid being heard by Lady Artemis. Cussing was frowned upon in the hunters.

**I gave her my deluxe I'll-kill-you-later stare.**

Ares scoffed. "Please, You were probably as frightening as a goldfish."

At those words Percy turned red in the face until he couldn't hold it in anymore. His laughter filled the room, confusing everyone but Frank, who was also red at this point.

Hazel glanced as Frank and he stuttered out a response. "It-it's something that happened in Georgia. We'll probably read about it later."

Nico, on the other hand, was still fixed on Ares's remark.

"Percy's actually pretty damn scary when he's angry."

Hades frowned. "And you know this how?"

Nico looked down in shame. "I did something I'm not proud of. That's all I'm going to say."

Hades still looked worried for his son but decided to leave the matter for now. He gestured for Athena to continue her narration.

**Then I turned to face Mrs. Dodds, but she wasn't there. She was standing at the museum entrance, way at the top of the steps, gesturing impatiently to come on.**

**How'd she get up there so fast?**

"Monster!" Leo sang out...quite badly.

**I have moments like that a lot, when my brain falls asleep or something, as if a puzzle piece fell out of the universe and left me staring at the blank space behind it. The school counselor told me that was part of the ADHD, my brain misinterpreting things.**

The other demigods, minus Frank, looked at each other.

"That's actually," Piper started.

"A really accurate description," Annabeth finished.

"Okay, how can you two do that?" Leo asked, officially creeped out. "You're _always_ finish each other's sentences! It's creepy as hell!"

Annabeth and Piper glanced at each other smirking. During their time at Camp Half-Blood, they had grown close and could now deduct what the other was thinking without much effort.

"It's a..." Annabeth began, still smirking.

"...girl thing," Piper finished.

**I wasn't so sure.**

"Please be smart and don't follow her," Annabeth pleaded with the twelve-year-old version of her boyfriend.

Percy blushed, remembering exactly what he had done.

**I went after Mrs. Dodds.**

"Nope, he's still an idiot," Thalia groaned.

Percy frowned. He knew that Thalia wasn't saying these things to make him feel bad, but it still hurt when people mock his intelligence. Just because he wasn't a brainiac like the Athena kids and was a little slow doesn't mean he's not smart at all. Even though Percy never said anything about it, he was always reminded of...a certain person, when people made fun of him.

**Halfway up the steps, I glanced back at Grover. He was looking pale, cutting his eyes between me and Mr. Brunner, like he wanted Mr. Brunner to notice what was going on, but Mr. Brunner was absorbed in his novel.**

Everyone in the room groaned. Of course Chiron chooses that moment to be ignorant of the danger the boy is in. Clearly that teacher is a monster!

**I looked back up. Mrs. Dodds had disappeared again.**

**She was now inside the building, at the end of the entrance hall.**

**Okay, I thought. She's going to make me buy a new shirt for Nancy at the gift shop.**

Nico snorted. "As if you'd ever be _that _lucky."

**But apparently that wasn't the plan. **

**I followed her deeper into the museum. When I finally caught up to her, we were back in the Greek and Roman section.**

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light. When the light faded, there was a dark-haired girl in Roman armor standing before them. She glanced at her surroundings and figured out were she was. She turned to the gods and knelt down before them.

"My Lords, My Ladies. I am Reyna, daughter of Bellona, Praetor of New Rome. If I may, I would like to ask why you have summoned me here."

Hestia looked at her and smiled kindly. "Stand child, I shall explain."

Once Hestia had explained the situation, Reyna turned to Percy. "So I finally get to see what made the great Percy Jackson." Her voice was criticizing, but the small smile playing at her lips and the twinkle in her eye let Percy know she was joking. Reyna smiled at Jason and took a seat on the other side of Percy, smiling at Annabeth as she sat down. Now would be the perfect time to really get to know the Greeks and befriend them instead of making them her enemies.

Jason scowled at this. Even Reyna seemed to like Percy better. She was never that relaxed around him. Jason was, dare he say it? Jealous. Jason was jealous, and he didn't like it one bit.

**Except for us, the gallery was empty.**

Poseidon paled substantially.

**Mrs. Dodds stood with her arms crossed in front of a big marble frieze of the Greek gods. She was making this weird noise in her throat, like growling.**

Everyone except for Annabeth and Nico leaned forward, excited and scared to see what Percy's first monster was. Even Jason had to grudgingly admit to his own curiosity.

**Even without the noise I would've been nervous. It's weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds. Something about the way she looked at the frieze, as if she wanted to pulverize it...**

"Oh, she did," Nico said matter-of-factly.

**"You've been giving us problems, honey," she said.**

**I did the safe thing. I said, "Yes, ma'am."**

**She tugged on the cuff of her leather jacket. "Did you really think you would get away with it?"**

**The look in her eyes was beyond mad. It was evil.**

Poseidon paled considerably and Hestia glanced at her brother and his child worriedly as Athena continued to read.

**She's a teacher, I thought nervously. It's not like she's going to hurt me.**

Nico glanced knowingly at his cousin. That particular monster would especially like to kill him.

**I said, "I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am."**

**Thunder shook the building.**

Thalia rolled her eyes at her father's dramatics. Jason on the other hand, felt more respect towards the gods and was worried that the son of Poseidon was about to get fried.

**"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds said. "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you'll suffer less pain."  
**

**I didn't know what she was talking about.**

"Well that's a shocker," Thalia said. "You never know anything!"

Percy glared at her.

"Oh don't look at me like that. You know it's true. If it wasn't for Annabeth, you'd be dead by now."

Percy nodded, it _was_ true after all.

Reyna smiled at the playful banter between the two. Jason just sneered. This kid is supposed to be so powerful, yet he relies on his girlfriend for everything. It was pathetic.

**All I could think of was that the teacher's must've found the illegal stash of candy I'd been selling out of my dorm** **room.**

"I take it back!" Hermes yelled wildly. "Poseidon, you're kids a freaking genius! Are you sure he's not mine?"

Percy smirked and sent water straight at the messenger god's face. "I'm pretty sure I'm the son of Poseidon."

Everyone in the room attempted to hold back their laughter. Everyone except for Apollo, who showed no restraint what so ever and was howling from his throne, wiping tears from his eyes. Hermes grumbled something a long the lines of: "Stupid water powers..."

**Or maybe they'd realized I got my essay on _Tom Sawyer_ from the Internet without ever reading the book and now they were going to take away my grade. Or worse, they were going to make me read the book.**

Athena looked at the boy disapprovingly. "Of course the sea spawn is illiterate as well as stupid."

Percy frowned at that, as did Annabeth.

"Just because I don't read doesn't mean I _can't_. You try reading with Dyslexia. The words float of the pages, you get migraines and you feel nauseous, so excuse me if I choose _not _to subject myself to that."

The goddess growled and turned to her daughter. "How can you be with someone like that?"

"I've long since accepted that the other demigods just don't have the same capacity of patience for reading that children of Athena do. It's just not in their nature, just like it's not in my nature to accept an easy answer or to give up on a problem," Annabeth responded.

Athena frowned at the wisdom of her daughter's words. Finally, she decided that it would be best if she just kept reading.

**"Well?" she demanded.**

**"Ma'am, I don't..."**

**"Your time is up," she hissed.**

By this time everyone was on the edge of their seats.

**Then the weirdest thing happened. Her eyes began to glow like barbecue coals. Her fingers stretched, turning into long talons. Her jacket melted into large, leathery wings. She wasn't human. She was a shriveled hag with bat wings and claws and a mouth full of yellow fangs, and she was about to slice me to ribbons.**

Poseidon turned calmly to his brother Hades, and in a way, that was even scarier than if he'd been outwardly angry.

"Hades, my dear, dear brother. Let me inform you that if you _ever_ send a Fury after my boy, I will not hesitate to kill yours."

Both Hades and Nico paled even more, if that's even possible.

"Nice knowing you Nico," Percy said to the goth.

Nico turned to him. "What do you mean?! As long as my dad doesn't send the Furies after you I'll be fine!"

"Ahh but Nico, the Fates said they couldn't change anything, therefor it _will _happen."

Nico gulped in fear and prayed that the Fates would keep the Lord of the Sea from taking his life.

Meanwhile, the demigods who didn't know about Percy's first monster stared at him in shock. They knew Percy was powerful, but could he really be strong enough to defeat a _Fury_ without any formal training?

**Then things got even stranger.**

"How do things get any stranger than _that_?" Frank asked, genuinely confused. Hazel and Reyna looked at each other and shrugged.

"It's Percy," Hazel said finally. "We should know by now that _everything _is weird and deadly when he's involved."

**Mr. Brunner, who'd been out front of the museum a minute before, wheeled his chair to the doorway of the gallery, holding a pen in his hand.**

**"What ho, Percy!" he shouted, and tossed the pen through the air.**

**Mrs. Dodds lunged at me.**

**With a yelp I dodged and felt talons slash at the air next to my ear. I snatched the ballpoint pen out of the air, but when it hit my hand, it wasn't a pen anymore. It was a sword-Mr. Brunner's bronze sword, which he always used on tournament day.**

**Mrs. Dodds spun toward me with a murderous look in her eyes.**

**She snarled, "Die, honey!"**

**And she flew straight at me.**

**Absolute terror ran through my body. I did the only thing that came naturally; I swung the sword.**

Piper looked at Percy incredulously. "That was _natural_?"

Percy looked confused at her confusion. "Well I _am_ a half-blood..."

"Percy, even for demigod standards, that's _not_ natural," Annabeth said slowly. The demigods looked at him in awe, even Jason. Leo was grinning like a madman while Nico shuddered, remembering that day at the River Styx; how Percy had completely annihilated 200 un-dead soldiers.

Jason was re-thinking his initial opinion on the boy. Maybe he was more than an idiot after all.

The gods, on the other hand, had a variety of reactions. Hermes, Apollo, and Ares, yes Ares, were all impressed by the boy's natural instincts. Poseidon, naturally, was proud of his son. Hephaestus gave a curt nod of approval. Neither Aphrodite nor Dionysus cared much about it at all. Even Artemis had to agree that he was pretty good, for a boy. The other Olympians grew wary of the boy. If on their side he could be a valuable asset. If not, then, well the boy would be extremely dangerous to have around. They would have to see how this played out.

Percy, growing self-concious from all the stares, began fidgeting before finally pleading for Athena to continue her reading.

**The metal blade hit her shoulder and passed clean through her body as if she were made of water. _Hisss!_**

**Mrs. Dodds was a sand castle in a power fan. She exploded into yellow powder, vaporized on the spot, leaving nothing but the smell of sulfur and a dying screech and a chill of evil in the air, as if those two glowing red eyes were still watching me.**

**I was alone.**

**There was a ballpoint pen in my hand.**

**Mr. Brunner wasn't there. Nobody was there but me.**

Everyone turned to stare at Percy?

"Ok, what now?" Percy asked after several minutes of being stared at.

"Even after being attacked by a _FURY_, you're still letting the mist effect you?" Thalia asked slowly, a disbelieving look an her face.

"Shut up, I thought I was going crazy," Percy blushed.

**My hands were trembling, My lunch must have been contaminated with magic mushrooms or something.**

This time it was Reyna who addressed Percy's...mentality.

"Magic mushrooms? Really Percy?"

Percy's face was on fire. "I was trying to come up with a logical explanation for what had just happened."

"And magic mushrooms was the best you could come up with? If I remember correctly, you didn't even eat your lunch."

Percy looked down from embarrassment while his "friends" laughed at him. Even a few of the gods chuckled a little.

**Had I imagined the whole thing?**

"I wish..."

**I went back outside.**

**It had started to rain.**

**Grover was sitting by the fountain, a museum map tented over his head. Nancy Bobofit was still standing there, soaked from her swim in the fountain, grumbling to her ugly friends. When she saw me, she said, "I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped you butt."**

**I said, "Who?"**

**"Our _teacher_. Duh!"**

**I blinked. We had no teacher named Mrs. Kerr. I asked Nancy what she was talking about.**

**She just rolled her eyes and turned away.**

**I asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.**

**He said, "Who?"**

**But he paused first, and he wouldn't look at me, so I thought he was messing with me.**

Annabeth sighed. "Grover is such a horrid liar."

Nico turned to Percy and mouthed, "_horrid?"_

Percy raised his hands, palms out front, and shook his head. "I don't know," he mouthed back.

**"Not funny, man," I told him. "This is serious."**

**Thunder boomed overhead.**

**I saw Mr. Brunner under his read umbrella, reading his book, as if he'd never moved.**

**I went over to him.**

**He looked up, a little distracted. "Ah, that would be my pen. Please bring your own writing utensil in the future, Mr. Jackson."**

**I handed Mr. Brunner his pen. I hadn't even realized I was still holding it.**

**"Sir," I said, "where's Mrs. Dodds?"**

**He stared at me blankly. "Who?"**

**"The other chaperone. Mrs. Dodds. The pre-algebra teacher."**

**He frowned and sat forward, looking mildly concerned.**

**"Percy, there is no Mrs. Dodds on this trip. As far as I know, there has never been a Mrs. Dodds at Yancy Academy. Are you feeling all right?"**

Hermes grinned. "At least he can lie!"

Athena rolled her eyes. "That's the end of it, who's next?"


End file.
